“While Her extrapolates current trends into a totally plausible yet magical-seeming near-future, Don Jon approaches technological fixation from a more mundane angle. [Joseph] Gordon-Levitt is attempting to say a lot of things with his film, most of them at an extremely high volume that’s even more apparent next to Her’s quiet assurance. But one of the smartest points he makes is about the comfort of routine, and how much of his protagonist’s addiction to Internet pornography boils down to habit. Masturbating to online videos is something Jon can, and does, do with no more effort than it takes to pull up a game of Candy Crush or idly scroll through Twitter during commercials. Similarly, all Theodore has to do is tap an earbud, and there Samantha is, ready and willing to satisfy his emotional, intellectual, and organizational needs. Such ease of access is the gateway to addictive habits: When we can have something anytime we want—physical, emotional, or intellectual gratification, or simply having our email read to us—it stops being a specific desire, and becomes part of the fabric of everyday life.”
Our series of 2013 double-features continues with the pairing of Her and Don Jon, which both use Scarlett Johansson as the ultimate object of desire to explore how technology is affecting our human relationships. [Read more…]